HONG KONG – Madman Entertainment, one of Australia’s largest independent film distributors, has been bought by its management for A$21.5 million (US$20.5 million).

The company had been in buyout talks since March this year with Funtastic, the wider toys and confectionery conglomerate that has owned Madman for the past several years.

Funtastic announced to the Australian Stock Exchange on Friday that a deal had been completed with new company Madman Film % Media, which is backed by a consortium of investors including Madman founders Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard.

“The impact of the selling price and estimated working capital adjustments will require a further write down of A$5 million to A$5.5 million,” said Funtastic in the statement.

“For Madman, it means restored independence, strong financial backing and the opportunity for exciting growth and innovation,” said Anderson and Wiegard in a statement. “We love the content and the partners we represent with a geek-like zeal, so we will continue to grow and strengthen that part of our business, both through traditional distribution as well as emerging channels.”

Madman distributes “Sesame Street,” “Adult Swim” and Cartoon Network in Australia, is also the biggest distributor of Japanese anime and one of the biggest importers of Indian and East Asian movies. It has also handled recent Australian movies including “The Turning” (pictured).

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